Page 26 of Flyboy

“Is the training going well?”

“Oh yeah. We got this.”

“You could come home . . .”

The silence on the phone lingered, full of dread on Colton’s end; he didn’t know what Ace was thinking.

“Do you need me?”

“Well, no, but if you’re unhappy . . . if it’s functioning without you, I’d like to get our executive board to a place where we can choose to be on the ground in the country we’re training if we want, but we don’t have to be.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” But what else would Colton do with his life? He loved to train new teams, didn’t he? Not lately. Suddenly, his Texas ranch and his horse were looking really good right now. “I’ll think about it.”

“And, Fly?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t let her get under your skin. You’re my best friend for a reason, and I wouldn’t have even considered doing Top Flight without you. You’re a great pilot.”

“Hey, no one’s gonna change the Fly, you know that.”

“Good to hear. Give it some thought about coming home. Omar and Ivy can do this. They practically ran the whole Pacific Alliance assignment by themselves. All I did there was cause trouble for them to clean up.”

Colton grinned. “The good kind of trouble.”

“Of course.”

When they hung up, Colton felt better. And braver.

“Tenderfoot.”He called to her as the class was filing out of the room. “Let’s go get some churrasco.”

She looked like she was about to drop her clipboard, but that same hesitant smile tugged at her lips, and she nodded. “Okay. I’d like that.”

“Omar, you in?”

“Nah.” He waved. “You two go without me. I promised Fatima I’d work on the chicken coop.”

Colton suspected nothing of the kind had been set up between Omar and Fatima, but he appreciated some time alone with Ivy. Maybe they could get things back to where they should be.

As he held the door open for her, she brushed by, her shirt touching his lightly. A pleasant rumble rushed through him. He wanted to lean towards her, to capture more. They made their way to the truck. Omar waved from one of the other pilot’s cars.

They drove through the small town and on to the larger connected city. “I heard that Fogao has a restaurant down here.”

“Is that the big one in Brazil?”

“Yes, it’s supposed to be the best.”

“Mm. I’m starving. This was a good idea.”

“And we haven’t had our own churrasco yet. Though Fatima has one planned for Saturday. Her own version.”

“I just hope she keeps making beans. I didn’t even think I liked beans until I ate hers.” Ivy smiled out the window.

“I hear she’s gotfeijoadacoming too, her own special recipe.”

“Is that beans?”

“Totally. It’s a Brazilian dish, usually made more in the north, but she likes it. I think her family comes from Bahia. That’s way north, on the coast.”

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